


The Family Business

by onereyofstarlight



Series: Fluffember Prompts 2019 [7]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 09:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onereyofstarlight/pseuds/onereyofstarlight
Summary: Virgil takes charge of a rescue involving a paraglider and his son.
Series: Fluffember Prompts 2019 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606219
Kudos: 17





	The Family Business

“Hey there, what’s your name?”

“Alex,” called the small, frightened boy. “Please, my dad’s hurt.”

Virgil carefully craned his neck up at the ledge Alex was perched on.

“Are you together?”

“Yes!”

Virgil heard a faint moan from above him.

“I’m okay,” called a pained voice. “More worried about getting my son to safety first.”

“We’ll do that, sir,” said Virgil, already assessing the rockface’s stability. “Can you tell me more about your condition?”

“Get my son first.”

Virgil nodded, hearing the silent message behind those words. Alex didn’t need any more reason to be terrified. He could assess the man when he was in view.

“Okay, Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to start climbing up to you. Can you take care of your dad while I focus on that?”

“I guess,” Alex said in a thin voice. Virgil waited until he could hear Alex talking to his dad in a low voice and then called up Scott who was waiting in Thunderbird One above them.

“Thunderbird One? You’re going to need to drop a line down. That rockface isn’t all that strong and I’m worried it might start shifting if we attempt to scale it directly.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Two,” came Scott’s voice through the comm. “I’ll hold her as steady as we can manage, but the rain is picking up and I can’t keep increasing my altitude to stay above it. Although, the wind is staying fairly light for us.”

“FAB, Thunderbird One,” said Virgil. Two magnetic clamps found their mark on Thunderbird Two with an echoing clang and Virgil grabbed two extra harnesses.

“Gordon?” he called into the cockpit. “I’m going to climb up to them. Stay here for retrieval.”

“FAB, Virg,” said Gordon as Virgil turned away to begin scaling the ropes.

The twenty-metre climb felt much too long when there was a scared little boy and his hurt father waiting above them and Virgil focused in on the ascent. The burn in his muscles felt right, like the aching pain of a job well done that would be awaiting him in the future. He drew eye level, shoulder level, hip level with the little ledge, climbing until he was looking down on Alex and his father. He locked off his rappel device and sat in the harness as he rigged up the makeshift platform between the two cables.

He pulled himself up onto the platform and sucked in a breath at the sight of Alex, still hovering over his dad.

“Hey Alex, what’s black and white and red all over?”

Alex gave a long-suffering sigh and Virgil suppressed a smile.

“I don’t know, Dad,” he said.

“A newspaper.”

“Da-a-a-d,” Alex groaned as his father laughed wheezily.

“Sir, that’s a worse joke than my brother tells,” said Virgil, grinning over at them.

“He tells the worst jokes,” complained Alex.

“Always here for you, bud.” The man reached up a hand to slowly wave at Virgil. “I’m David. Good timing on your end…”

“Virgil,” he said cheerfully.

“Thanks for responding, Virgil,” said David.

Virgil turned his attention back to Alex.

“Ready to get going?” he asked.

“Yes please, Mr. Virgil!”

Virgil laughed and threw one of the harnesses down to Alex who caught it.

“Start getting into that,” he said. “I’ll be over to check your buckles in a moment. John, can you get me an analysis of the rockface _above_ the ledge? My scans are showing it’s stable but I’d like to see if disturbing it will have a domino effect on the ledge itself.”

“Running simulations now,” said John’s voice. “They’re safe with a 95% confidence interval.”

“Can you do me any better?” asked Virgil, preparing his grapple. “A one in twenty chance of this going down isn’t exactly my idea of confidence.”

“You could always grapple the kid directly.”

Virgil shrugged. “Just might do that, Thunderbird Five.” He raised his voice slightly as he called out to Alex. “How’s it going over there?”

“Nearly there!”

“Your buckles are open, Alex,” said David patiently. “C for closed, remember.”

Alex scrambled to follow instructions as Virgil clipped himself to the makeshift platform. He carefully aimed the grapple at the rockface and fired. The metal claw buried itself in the rock and Virgil watched the ledge anxiously for any sign of movement under Alex’s oblivious feet.

“Good job, buddy,” Virgil assured him with a smile. The first rule of all their rescues was that keeping people calm saved lives above all else. Virgil knew what he was about to ask of this little boy would take all the nerve he had.

“You see that cable?”

Alex looked up and nodded. He turned towards Virgil, eyes wide and trusting.

“Okay, I’m going to send over this zipline cable. I need you to attach the end to your harness and then sit on the seat. I’ll keep a hold of this secondary cable and reel you up to me. Sound good?”

Alex looked back fearfully at his dad.

“Go on, Alex,” said David, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Virgil hoped Alex didn’t quite see the way his dad was deteriorating the longer they deliberated. He didn’t need a hysterical seven-year-old on his hands, no matter how understandable.

Alex straightened his spine and nodded at Virgil, his hands ready to catch the cable as it swung down to him.

The seat was low and Alex crouched down on it. David reached out to unlock the carabiner and attach his son securely to the zipline.

“Love you son,” he whispered.

“Love you Dad,” said Alex, falling over himself to gently hug him.

David lifted his eyes to Virgil. “Take good care of my boy,” he ordered. “Get him in that big, green machine before you get me.”

Virgil nodded tightly. “You’ve got it, sir.”

He fed the cable through the pulley system and began pulling Alex upwards towards the platform.

Alex swallowed a shriek as the seat took his full weight and he swung a little over the edge of the rockface.

“Eyes on me, Alex,” called Virgil. “No different to paragliding, this.”

In every rescue came an instant where things suddenly moved very quickly. For all the time it took to survey the site, simulate potential plans and prep the party for evacuation, the actual action of rescue took very little time.

In mere moments, Alex was sitting next to Virgil, hugging him tight with eyes squeezed shut.

“You’re okay,” murmured Virgil, putting one arm around the boy. “You did great, your dad and I are so proud of you.”

Alex sniffed and clung to Virgil’s middle. “Can you get my dad now?”

“Not yet,” Virgil told him, heart aching at the way Alex’s shoulder slumped at the words. “I have to belay you down to Thunderbird Two.”

His hands were sure as he attached the rope to Alex’s harness and removed the zipline cable.

“I don’t want to be alone,” whispered Alex as he looked fearfully down towards Thunderbird Two.

“Thunderbird Two loves having visitors,” Virgil said with a smile. “I promise she’ll take care of you, and so will my brother who’s waiting below.

“I have a little brother,” said Alex, puffing up his little chest. “He’s three.”

“So, you’re the oldest?” asked Virgil, running through his last checks.

“Yes!” said Alex. “His name’s Alan, and Mummy is going to give us a little sister soon too!”

“My youngest brother is called Alan too,” said Virgil with a smile. “Okay, ready? Time to be brave!”

Alex nodded and stayed very still as Virgil carefully lowered him down to Thunderbird Two. He could see Gordon below, deft fingers helping Alex out of his harness and bundling him into the ship below.

He turned his attention back to David.

“Time for a status update, David,” he said, dark eyes looking worriedly over David’s prone form.

David grimaced. “Think I busted some ribs. I can’t put weight on my left leg. I’m afraid I’m going to be pretty useless with any attempts at mobility.”

Virgil nodded grimly. “I don’t think we can use the same zipline trick for you,” he said. “If I can get to you, I can tape your ribs and splint your leg for a temporary measure, but I’m afraid whatever we do will be quite painful. We’ll need to immobilise you before moving you to Thunderbird Two.”

“FAB,” said David, lips twitching at Virgil’s surprised stare. “I heard you talking to your brothers, was it?” He exhaled wheezily. “Mighty fine family business you have. Your parents must be proud.”

Virgil started, caught off guard. “I hope so, sir,” he said quietly. There was a lump in his throat and if David saw him blinking back tears, he said nothing.

“Right, Thunderbird One?” he said opening up a channel on his comm. “I need to transfer David to this platform, so I need you to decrease your altitude by two metres, no more, no less.”

“FAB,” said Scott and Virgil felt himself lowered down. He carefully climbed off the platform and quickly administered first aid with a practiced hand. He tilted David carefully onto his side, pulling the platform close and pulling it underneath him, then shuffling David all the way across.

“You’re going up to Thunderbird One,” he told David. “I’m sorry, but you need immediate attention and Thunderbird One is our fastest ship. I’ll be right behind you with Alex.”

David nodded and Virgil called Scott again.

“Reel him up, Scott, we’re all ready down here.”

On cue, the platform lifted off the ledge and Virgil waved up at David as he disappeared into the clouds.

He abseiled down the rockface back to Thunderbird Two only to be bowled over by a seven-year-old wrapped in a tin foil blanket.

“Did you get my dad?” he cried.

“Sure did, buddy,” said Virgil, ruffling Alex’s hair. “My big brother is gonna take him to hospital, and we’ll be right behind him.”

Gordon walked over and put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Let’s go take a look at the cockpit,” he told Alex. “Have you ever wanted to be a pilot?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Alex, bouncing up and down. “How did you know?”

“Just a hunch,” said Gordon, with a wink. “If you would, Virgil?”

“I’ll be there in a second,” said Virgil. “Let me put away this gear and then we’ll be in the sky.”

He smiled fondly at Alex and Gordon, watching as Gordon swung Alex up onto his shoulders. His own shoulders ached and he was looking forward to returning home.

A beep on his comm alerted him to a call, and John’s hologram popped up.

“You did good, Virg,” he said softly. “Scott’s got David to hospital and he’s stable.”

“Thanks, John. I’m just going to lie here for a minute.”

“Job’s not done, Virgil,” he said, but Virgil waved him off. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and the crash that followed was rapidly approaching. Virgil could already feel the rawness of his fingers and a burn spreading down his arms. He sat down next to the collection of harnesses and cables and slowly lowered himself onto the cold metal floor.

John eyed his brother carefully, while typing out a message to Gordon who was settling Alex into his seat in the cockpit, ready for take-off.

“Take care, Virgil,” he said with a sympathetic smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Crosspost from Tumblr. Original posted on 15/11/2019. Fills Day 3 prompt: Care
> 
> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> (As an aside, far out, I'm still struggling with titles and summaries and tags and the rest of it xD Really REALLY thank you for reading while I try to sort the technical aspect out)


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